Mr Tsvangirai, leaders are changed through the ballot

HISTORY should teach MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai that the route of demonstrations which he is inciting his supporters to take in order to catapult him onto the presidential throne is not productive. The MDC-T leader should be advised that destructive demonstrations can leave trails of violence and economically cripple the country.

It is a fact that Zimbabwe is a democratic country which always makes sure that elections are held every five years in fulfillment of democratic principles which this country religiously upholds. In that way, those with leadership aspirations take the opportunity to democratically challenge those in power through democratic electoral processes. As such, the MDC-T leader should be the first to realize that there is no short cut to success. Perseverance is the best route to take Mr. Tsvangirai and in that way you will win respect from the electorate.

While demonstrations are permissible under the new constitution, history has shown that such demonstrations have never achieved their intended goals. Leadership change in Zimbabwe comes from the ballot. It is surprising that Tsvangirai is failing to read between the lines and get to appreciate that demonstrations will never take him to the helm of the country; they only leave trails of violence which, of late, have been the order of the day in the MDC-T.

Tsvangirai should also recall that since the 1990s, strikes and job stay-aways which he organized while he was still the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) failed to achieve his intended selfish goals. Zimbabweans are politically conscious and can no longer be used as pawns in a political game meant to fulfill the personal aspirations of fortune seekers and directionless nonenties masquerading as politicians. Zimbabweans are seized with bread and butter issues that Zanu-PF is also seized with. In view of that, Tsvangirai should know that demonstrations have no place in Zimbabwe.

It was a surprise to hear the MDC-T leader urging Zimbabweans, while addressing a rally in Masvingo, to come out of their cocoons and engage in street protests against President Robert Mugabe's rule which he said had been characterised by suffering and abuse of power. Tsvangirai failed to realise that previous demonstrations and strikes have failed to give him the clear road to State House.

Speaking during the party's 15th anniversary celebrations at Mucheke Stadium in Masvingo on September 15, Tsvangirai called for nationwide demonstrations to put pressure on President Mugabe's government to address the economic challenges facing the country. Instead of calling for his western sponsors to lift sanctions on Zimbabwe so that the economy is revived, he calls for a violent ouster of a democratically elected government. Tsvangirai is quite aware that demonstrations won't help him. He thrives on the suffering of the people and he knows quite well that the call for demonstrations would further bring suffering to the people in the hope that he would be seen as a saviour by the gullible lot.

It is still vivid in everybody's memory that in 2003, the MDC, smarting from the heavy thumping by Zanu-PF in the 2002 presidential elections, organised what they called "final push". It was meant to smuggle Tsvangirai into State. However, Zimbabweans did not join that ill-advised move and it became a failure. The MDC failed in that regard as the people knew quite well that the suffering which they were experiencing was as a result of the sanctions imposed on the country at the behest of the MDC party.

The sanctions imposed on the country by the western countries have caused untold suffering to the people of Zimbabwe. As a result, the people are still suffering from that scourge of sanctions and they would, at the very least, appreciate more if the MDC-T admits that they were wrong in calling for sanctions instead of calling for demonstrations to oust Zanu-PF from power.

So the call for people to stage demonstrations against the government shows that the MDC-T leader is power hungry. His failure to defeat President Mugabe in three consecutive presidential elections has frustrated him. He thinks that demonstrations would be the only way to help him become the Zimbabwean leader. Tsvangirai must accept his failure to lead in three consecutive elections; he must live with that reality. It's a bitter pill to swallow but it is the reality that can never be changed by demonstrations.

Zimbabweans should learn and that they must not be willing tools for power hungry politicians; they must desist from engaging in needless demonstrations that are counterproductive to national economic revival. It should be realized that the country is eager to attract foreign direct investment and demonstrations could work at cross purpose with that objective. Investment in any form would help the country to curb unemployment which has risen drastically and Tsvangirai's call for demonstrations is not a good move and it is only meant to cause the economy to further deteriorate to its lowest ebb.

Zimbabweans should take a leaf from what is happening in countries like Libya, Tunisia and Egypt among others. The so-called Arab spring uprisings which swept across the Arab region a few years ago caused the violent ouster of democratically elected leaders, leaving behind trails of violence and conflicts. Now those who tried to take over from so-called dictators in those Arab countries have failed to normalise the situations and the Arab region is now characterised by violence, killings and conflicts with no signs of peace in the near future.

So the people of Zimbabwe should not be fooled by Tsvangirai's call for demonstrations to overthrow a democratically elected government. They should wait for the 2018 harmonized elections to elect a new government of their choice without violence, conflict and killing of innocent people like what is happening in the Arab region.